One of Madrid’s Top Restaurants Shuttered Due to Taxes

One of the best restaurants in Madrid, chef Sergi Arola’s Gastro, closed earlier this week due to unpaid taxes, The Telegraph has reported.

The restaurant, which is one of only six in Madrid to earn two coveted Michelin stars, was opened five years ago by the renowned Spanish chef and immediately became one of the most difficult reservations to get in the city. But all that came to an end abruptly on June 25, when during lunchtime service six agents arrived at the restaurant and promptly shut it down, taking inventory of assets including its extensive wine collection.

Gastro reportedly owes nearly €150,000 (or about $195,000) in unpaid taxes, and things have apparently been difficult for this restaurant for some time: Gastro has reduced its costs over the past year, cut its employees’ pay, and agreed to a monthly debt repayment plan, but the government is now demanding that they pay up in full.

The restaurant will re-open if the debt is paid in full, but that doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon. In the meantime, though, Arola told Spain’s The Local that there’s a chance it will re-open if the bank decides to give them a guaranteed loan.